Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-03-29

They Flourish i'm spite Of Apparent
Rows With the Railroad Companies.

From the Chicago Tribune.
A reporter from the Tribune was coming from
breakfast the other morning when he met on the
corner friend who was porting over q very much
soiled pasteboard, about an inch and q half long
by three-quarters of an inch.
'Whats the matter? You looked puzzled" WAS
the reporters salutatiOn.
'1'm going down TO Peoria, and I've Just been
and bought a ticket from Scalper to come back
on. Confound it, Expect I'm stuck. I didn't
see the thing, at least didn't look at it. and now
i find 1t was stamped by the railroad company
February Ia, 1874. Great Scott! That ticket Is
Just thirteen years old. Dye suppose it's good?"
1t was pretty tOugh-looking old ticket 1t was
an Old-fashioned and very heavy cardboard, yell
low with age, and the corners were rounded by
attrition- 1t was SO unprOmiSing bit OF PASTE
board that the Tribune man asked mis- friend where
he got 1t. The latter mentioned the name of the
s =. The reporter knew him. and he remarked,
GOOD? Why, of course it's good" was the
brokers' testy response. "What dye suppose I'm
here for-to sell played-out tickets? Not much.
RIO the man who had bought it'll You just get on
the train and hand it TO the conductOr-and ITO
the new newspaper mani I'd like TO know what inter-
Nothing" said the scribe, "only was afraid
you or your clerk had made mistake, and
didn't want 10 see my friend put OF the train"
"Wen, your friend would not be put of. You
talk about old tickets; don't you know that IN
limited railroad tickets, properly issued and
pany exists and the rails last? DO you know
what an old ticket Is? Well, I'll show you one.
Now, mind, that's just good for what it calls
for over the New York Central from Albany to
ISL"
The scalper opened his safe and brought out an
old-fashioned railroad ticket from Schenectady to
Buffalo over the series of Jerkwater concerns that
road was then in four divisions. The first-Sche-
nectady and Uuca-carried the stub, and the other
three coupons carried the passenger over the SYRIA
cuSe and Utica, ffty-three miles; Rochester and
syracuse. 1O4 miles, and Buffalo and Rochester,
Seventy-five miles.
The division over which this ticket was good
was the first extension OF the first seventeen miles
OF railroad built in the United StateS-the Old AL
bany and schenectady road. In every we'll
appointed railroad Office In the country there Is a
sllhouet picture representing ThurlOw Weed and a
lot OF greater and lesser dignitarieS taking their
NV The On tI old road Inc tckeG pr1auceo
In Jamestown, n. Y, for his little son, then six
years old, but the boy was so small that the con-
ductOr did not ask for any ticket. The YOUNGSTOWN
gentleman did not proTer what was not asked OF
him. IL may be Interesting TO note that that boy
who then rode deadhead from schenectady TO Buf-
1alO Is now q Wel-kn0Wn railroad man in Chicago,
ana has had good many free rides since.
The ticket, which is yellow with age is printed
On the poorest and 1iinlSleSt OF paper, and the
name OF The Receiver" j. W. vrooInan Is signed
In Ink, and so also is every coupon.
"And 50, )" said, the broker, "yOu see that there
are older tickets than that you mentioned In the
hands OF brokers' That ticket is perfectly good
for passage, though OF course it is now worth a
great deal OF money as curiosity. would not
take $50 Tor it. When did this business first get
foothold, did you ask? In PttSburg in 1885. The
first Scalper hung out his Shingle there and then
III was In the days when the issue OF coupons first
began between connecting points Then coupons
on through tickets could be detached when deSir-
able and used separately thus cutting under local
IareS- That system did not last long, for the rail-
roads soon got onto IL, but it lasted long enough
TO breed the scalper and he has been in existence
ever since. There Is an impression that
the Interstate commerce law will shut |
up the broker shops. NOnSenSPi Accord
ing to my theory the brokers will be more than
ever needed by the railroads. How are they going
TO cut rates and bid for business IL they don't do
IL through Us? The law prevents pooling dis |
crimina ions, &c, but the law does not apply to
them if we can get 'en to sell. Do you remember
the time that trunk line eastward put 5000
mileage books on the market? Well, why cannot
That be done again? What can the interstate
commission do about 1t? They need not come out
all at once, OF course, and who is going to prevent
their going into dozen or two dozen hands at
Once?"
do you really have difficulty with the railroad
companies, or Is that all talk?"
"Wet." said the ticket sharp, with a smile. |
% you see how We flourish. No, we don't have
trouble with the companies. They and their pool
agents talk good DEAL but our supply OF tickets
Is like the widows cruise OF Ol-t never runs dry
We have no troublein getting tickets. Sometimes
we have 70 send as far east as Boston for bunch
or Chicago tickets, but we always get them-and
they're good ticketS-never been punched, and are
issue these don't want TO openly pay commits
sion, SO they put little insignificant dot on the
tickets that nobody but We will notice, and when
we get hold OF them we know we can sell them
from 81 TO s. less than rates. according the dots
See?"